Many major holiday family dinners feature ham as the main course. Slow-roasting leaves a hearty stock in the bottom of the pan, often too salty to make gravy with. Of course, the best hams still have the bone inside, but those aren’t really a human’s food of choice.
But don’t throw away that ham bone or the stock! These two cast-offs from a ham dinner are the base of a pot of hearty Ham & Bean Soup. With the addition of a one-pound bag of dried beans that retails for approximately one dollar, any family of four to six can enjoy a satisfying, filling meal high in fiber, iron and protein provided by the beans.
While the beans add no fat, cholesterol or sodium, diners watching their salt intake should remember that Ham and Bean Soup will contain much of the sodium from the original ham.
Ham and Bean Soup is a dish that does involve advanced planning and time. While the hands-on time is very short, there is soaking involved and the simmering usually takes at least 2 hours. A great game-plan for preparing Ham and Bean Soup for dinner is to prepare it on a weekend. Soak the beans overnight on Friday. On Saturday afternoon, drain the beans and start the simmer in the mid-afternoon, just in time to enjoy a hearty dinner.
Ham and Bean Soup
- 1 pound dried Great Northern beans
- 8 cups water
- Ham stock (at least one cup, but use whatever is left from the ham)
- Ham Bone
- 1-2 cups leftover ham, cut into pieces
- Water
- 1 teaspoon ground sage, as desired
- 1-2 teaspoons ground black pepper, to taste
Bean Preparation: Begin the night before serving
- Rinse the Great Northern beans in a colander under cool water.
- Pick through the beans to make certain there are no small pebbles left behind from processing. This step should be followed for any recipe containing dried beans.
- In a large bowl, cover the dried beans with 8 cups cold water.
- Let the beans soak for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.
Soup Preparation: 3 hours before serving
- In a large heavy bottomed stock pot, bring the ham stock and bone to a simmer over medium heat with enough water to make 12 cups.
- Rinse the now-swollen Great Northern beans in a colander under cool water; drain well.
- Add the beans to the simmering ham stock
- Allow to simmer for at least two hours, or until beans are tender.
- Add leftover ham and seasonings to beans and broth and simmer for 15 minutes until ham is warmed through.
Serve Ham and Bean Soup with hot Southern-Style Cornbread and diced raw onions on the side.
Source: Great Northern Beans
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